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New Indian Express

A writer and his words' worth

Dhaya's personal favourite is a play for all seasons, Karaikal Ammaiyar, which drew a repeat audience. Dhaya playing with the dialogues brought the house down. Strongly believing that even historical scripts could do with a bit of fine-tuning, Dhaya brought to light a few qualities of Karaikal Ammaiyar, not told before. 'One among the three Nayanmar, the eldest one, had walked with the support of her hands on Kayilai Hill, which prompted Lord Siva to deem her as 'Ammaiye'. That she was born in Karaikal resulted in her being called as the title signifies, giving an insight into the character which not many were aware of,' he narrates. Meanwhile, Veera Mangai Velu Nachiar was another audience favourite. In Dhaya's esteem, it was a script much ahead of its time. People had only heard of the exploits of Jhansi Rani, with very few pages depicting the towering persona of Nachiar. 'Here was a warrior who fought a lonely battle to exact revenge on the murderer of her husband. Nachaiar's confrontations with her daughter Vellachi were the life and soul of the plot, each having a different view on how to get even with the perpetrators. The exchanges were lively, where the dialogues had to ring in the prevalent mood of the actors. Chaste Tamil had a special place in an era where even a small fumble brought in a long frown from the die-hard historic fans,' he notes. In devotional plays, Dhaya's way of portraying Lord Shiva, which had many layers and dimensions in scores of plays involving Shiva and Parvathi, was always a win. 'It boiled down to letting the mind go overboard, shaping the characters of a Shiva devotee. One such play, Kannappa Nayanar, brought to light the feelings of a young devotee wondering at the dearth of talent in the kingdom ruled by incompetent heads,' he says. Now, Dhaya is still game to mix social plays with the historic ones. Talking about this, he recalls the 80s when his play James Bond 007 had a massive following. 'Bhairavan was the name I had coined for the Bond, and the opening line went in the same fashion as all of Bond movies — The name is Bhairavan, struck an instant chord with the viewers. Some of my well-wishers fondly call me by that name even today, which should be seen as a victory for the character and not for the writer,' he notes. Presently working on Manimegalai and Desa Bakthargal for two production houses, Dhaya says he always desired that his hands are full. That one script is based on Silapadigaram, and the other one on the five greats of Tamil history — Kodikatha Kumaran, Vanjinathan, VO Chidambaram, Mahakavi Bharathiar, and Jhansi Rani — has only added to his excitement. At 68, Dhaya feels he still has miles to traverse as a writer. New scripts still excite him. 'Every dive is a new experience and the feel is beyond words to comprehend,' he signs off.